Clippers guard Patrick Beverley signals after scoring against the Spurs in Sunday’s 103-95 victory in in San Antonio. Beverley become the first player 6-foot-1 or shorter in at least 25 seasons to finish a game with 18 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, four steals and a block, according to the Clippers.
(AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich called it “one of the mysteries” of the NBA: The short-handed team was energized; the fully staffed team was short on energy.

That’s how it went Sunday, when the Clippers — sans Danilo Gallinari and Lou Williams — snapped a five-game losing streak, winning 103-95 in San Antonio. They permitted the second-fewest points all season, handed the Spurs just their seventh home loss and delivered an overall inspired performance.

“See what you do when your back is against the wall?” said guard Patrick Beverley, who was inserted into the starting lineup alongside Montrezl Harrell and had a special night, becoming the first NBA player 6-foot-1 or shorter in at least 25 seasons to finish a game with 18 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, four steals and a block, according to the team.

“We came out swinging and we’ve got to keep doing it,” Beverley told reporters in San Antonio. “Especially in the Western Conference, where you play a good team every night. This is a good start to the road trip, man. It propels momentum for next game.”

That next game comes Tuesday in Dallas, where the Clippers (25-21 and 11-11 on the road) likely won’t have Williams (who made the trip but is recovering from a sore right hamstring), and almost certainly won’t have Gallinari (who remained in L.A., where he’s dealing with back spasms).

“I don’t know the answer,” Rivers said of Gallinari, who is having the best season of a career oft-interrupted by injuries. “I know it’s spasms, but you don’t know what creates spasms. I know he’s getting treatment. We obviously felt it was serious enough for him to stay at home. We have to just take care of him.

“I think there’s a chance (he joins the team on the road trip), but I don’t know how good of a chance,” Rivers added. “Usually we bring the guys who we think are going to play on the trip. But again, with the back, if he wakes up and feels better, then yeah, we’ll be using (team owner) Steve (Ballmer)’s private plane.”

The Mavericks (20-25, entering their matchup Monday against the Milwaukee Bucks) are expected to have back guard Dennis Smith Jr. for the first time Tuesday, according to ESPN. Smith, who has been the subject of trade rumors, will have missed six consecutive games with what the Mavs described as back soreness and illness.

It’s uncertain when Williams (18.7 points per game off the bench) and Gallinari (19 points per game) will return, so the Clippers will try to take momentum from Sunday’s victory, in which Tobias Harris was “phenomenal,” Rivers said, with a near triple-double, including 27 points, nine rebounds and a career-high nine assists — and no turnovers.

“We needed it,” Rivers told reporters after the win in San Antonio. “You never can explain. That’s why you lace them up. Obviously if you looked at it before the game, there were not a lot of people saying we were going to win this game, but the guys in there believed that, and that’s all that counts.”

Lou Williams, on behalf of the @LAClippers, recognized Martin Luther King Jr. Day. (He's in street clothes, of course, because he's out tonight with a sore hammy.) pic.twitter.com/ZqJwB0c6a2

Mirjam Swanson covers the Clippers and the NBA for the Southern California News Group. Previously, she wrote about LeBron James and the rest of the Dream Team at the 2004 Olympics (where, yes, they took bronze) and Tiger Woods’ last (for now) major championship. Most recently, she’s covered city government, education and the occasional bear in a backyard.